Background: To investigate whether the toll-like receptor 2 polymorphisms could influence susceptibility to pulmonary TB, its phenotypes, and blood lymphocyte subsets.Methods: A total of 368 subjects, including 184 patients with pulmonary TB and 184 healthy controls, were examined for TLR2 polymorphisms over locus -100 (microsatellite guanine-thymine repeats), -16934 (T>A), -15607 (A>G), -196 to -174 (insertion>deletion), and 1350 (T>C). Eighty-six TB patients were examined to determine the peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations.Results: We newly identified an association between the haplotype [A-G-(insertion)-T] and susceptibility to pulmonary TB (p = 0.006, false discovery rate q = 0.072). TB patients with systemic symptoms had a lower -196 to -174 deletion/deletion genotype frequency than those without systemic symptoms (5.7% vs. 17.7%; p = 0.01). TB patients with the deletion/deletion genotype had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying the insertion allele (526 vs. 243.5 cells/μl, p = 0.009). TB patients with pleuritis had a higher 1350 CC genotype frequency than those without pleuritis (12.5% vs. 2.1%; p = 0.004). TB patients with the 1350 CC genotype had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying the T allele (641 vs. 250 cells/μl, p = 0.004). TB patients carrying homozygous short alleles for GT repeats had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying one or no short allele (641 vs. 250 cells/μl, p = 0.004).Conclusions: TLR2 genetic polymorphisms influence susceptibility to pulmonary TB. TLR2 variants play a role in the development of TB phenotypes, probably by controlling the expansion of NK cells.

S and full research articles published in SLEEP, the official journal of the APSS. Sleep and sleep disorder scientific findings.

To investigate function and morphology of the meibomian gland (MG) in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED). In this prospective case series study, patients with unilateral or bilateral TED were consecutively enrolled. The diagnosis of TED was based on the typical orbital findings and/or radiographic evidence. The disease activity of TED was classified according to the clinical activity score (CAS). Degrees of lagophthalmos and exophthalmos, blinking rates, and results of the Schirmer test 1 were also recorded. All patients completed the SPEED questionnaire and underwent MG assessment, including lipid layer thickness (LLT), MG dropout (MGd), and MG expression. In total 31 eyes from 17 patients with unilateral or bilateral TED were included. Patients were divided into inactive TED (CAS 0−1; 20 eyes from 11 patients) and active TED (CAS 2−3, 11 eyes from 6 patients) groups. MGd was significantly more severe in the active TED than the inactive TED group [Median (Inter-quartile region): 3.0 (2.0−3.0) vs. 2.0 (1.0−2.0) degree, P = 0.04]. However, patients with active TED had thicker LLT than those with inactive TED (90.0 [80.0−100.0] vs. 65.0 [47.8−82.5] nm, P = 0.02), and LLT was positively correlated with lagophthalmos (r = 0.37, P = 0.04). Patients with active TED had more severe MGd, but thicker LLT. Active TED may cause periglandular inflammation of MGs, leading to MGd, but compensatory secretion from residual MGs and lagophthalmos-induced forceful blinking might temporarily release more lipids over the tear film.